VANCOUVER – The second-ranked University of Calgary Dinos came alive in the third quarter to get past the No. 6 UBC Thunderbirds 31-17 Friday night in Vancouver, clinching a playoff berth and taking the driver's seat at the top of the Canada West standings.
With the win, the Dinos improve to 5-0 on the season and sit two games clear of the field in the conference heading into the bye next week.
Led by a pair of touchdowns from
Jeshrun Antwi, the Dinos scored 23 unanswered points after going down 10-7 to the Thunderbirds in the second quarter as the offence found its groove while the defence limited UBC to just 30 yards and one first down in the stanza.
"I felt comfortable with a lot of what we were doing, but we were not taking advantage of our opportunities," said Dinos Head Coach
Wayne Harris following his 19th regular season win in just his third season as head coach. "You don't want to give another team a chance. They were playing well, they're a good football team, at home, very well-coached, but we started to get our momentum going, and the guys came out and started to really take control in the third quarter."
Things started off well for UBC when Malcom Lee picked off Calgary's
Adam Sinagra on the goal line, snuffing out a promising early drive. The Thunderbirds were able to keep the Dinos off the scoreboard through the first quarter, then struck first with a 42-yard bomb from Michael O'Connor to Trivel Pinto. The Dinos responded, and on the very next drive
Adam Sinagra connected with
Jack McDonald to tie it at 7-7, before a UBC field goal made it 10-7.
The game took a turn with 4:24 to play in the second quarter when Dinos offensive lineman
Spencer Roy sustained an injury and was attended by the training staffs of both teams. After an extended break, the officials elected to take half time early, with the remainder of the second quarter played after the break. Roy was able to walk off the field under his own power.
As it turned out, the break was exactly what the Dinos needed, despite now missing two starters on the offensive line in Roy and
Jordan Filippelli, who did not make the trip to Vancouver. Calgary came back in the third quarter and exploded for 21 points while the defence held the Thunderbirds at bay. By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, Calgary had turned a 10-9 disadvantage into a 30-10 lead as Sinagra tossed touchdowns to Klukas and Antwi sandwiched around an 18-yard Antwi touchdown run.
"The defence was a key part to our success in the third," said Harris. "The more two-and-outs you get, the offence will start to get on a roll, and you'll wear down the defence on the other side a little bit. Our guys were flying around and playing some hard-nosed football."
Adam Laurensse and
Cyril Iwanegbe led the way statistically for Calgary's defence with eight and 7.5 tackles, respectively.
Sinagra finished the contest completing 29 of 42 passes for 351 yards and a touchdown, with Klukas and
Hunter Karl once again leading the way. Antwi finished the night with 78 rushing yards, with
Robert Stewart adding another 63.
After the bye, the Thunderbirds head on the road for back-to-back away games at Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The Dinos, meanwhile, return to action after the bye when they host the Manitoba Bisons (1-4) Saturday, Oct. 14 at McMahon Stadium.
NOTES: Sinagra's 29 completions were a career high and tied him for the fourth-best single game total in school history … through five games, the Dinos have scored the most (259) and given up the fewest (114) points of any team in Canada West … the playoff berth is the Dinos' 11th consecutive, and the win all but assures a home playoff game for the 10th consecutive year …
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